Message to Partners

Join the Global UNEP/FAO Campaign to Cut Food Waste Support the Save Food and the UN Secretary-General’s Zero Hunger initiatives

A global campaign to reduce food waste around the world is being launched by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), in partnership with WRAP UK, Feeding the 5000, and many other supporters. The campaign is part of the Save Food Initiative of FAO and the trade fair organizer Messe Düsseldorf.

Worldwide about one-third of all food produced – equivalent to 1.3 billion tons – gets lost or wasted in the food production and consumption systems, according to data released by FAO. In industrialized regions, every year about 300 million tons, which is almost half of the food getting lost there, comes as the result of producers, retailers and consumers discarding food that was or still is fit for consumption. This is more than the total net food production of Sub-Saharan Africa, and it would be sufficient to feed the estimated 870 million people hungry in the world.

There are lots of reasons why this is happening. But what is clear is that wasting food means wasting money in a big way both at the household level and in businesses throughout the supply chain – about $200 billion annually in industrialized regions.

In a world of seven billion people rising to over nine billion by 2050 wasting food makes no sense—economically, environmentally and morally. It means not only money down the drain, but all the energy, land, water, fertilizers and other inputs needed to grow and distribute that food in the first place.

This campaign can make a huge difference, if everybody gets involved - , food producers, supermarkets, consumers, restaurants and hotel chains, schools, sports and other social clubs, company CEOs, city mayors, national and world leaders.

Get InvolvedHouseholds can, for example, plan their weekly meals or learn how to cook and store leftovers. This means saving food and also saving money spent each week. Supermarkets, hotels and restaurants, up to companies, cities and countries can pledge to measure the food they waste and put in place targets to reduce it, improving their resource use and saving money in the process.

There are plenty of initiatives flourishing already around the globe. This campaign is also a way to link them together and to share tips, experiences and good practices.

We all need to THINK about and be mindful of our food consumption patterns, we all need to EAT, and we all need to SAVE food, especially in developed countries and among the middle classes of the developing ones. If we can ‘Reduce our Foodprint’, we can reduce humanity’s impact on our planet.